Happy Holidays from SA

A video our school put together. Several kids from Millie's class (mainly Millie's buddy Amelia in a purple dress) but only a few shots of Millie in the background. Look quickly!!

Sheltering Arms Holiday Video

Enjoy!

Milo

Sorry if this is the way you are hearing this but it is certainly the easiest way for Mat and I to get information out.
Okay so I started Milo, part formula, part breastmilk (BM) last Monday (12/6). no reason really other than I was tired of pumping at work.

So we did that all last week. I nursed him in the mornings and in the evenings. And over the weekend. So Monday comes and I didn't want to pump so we gave him all formula in his daycare (DC) bottles.

So Tuesday we sent him to school with 50/50 bottles. around 4pm DC called Mat at work and say he has a red eye. We both head over there and we see his eyeball and part of his upper eye lid is red. Just looks irritated. Well, they have volunteers come in all the time to hold the babies. They said maybe it was just something that the volunteer was wearing or perfume or soap, anything. it was gone in a hour or so. no biggie. so we gave the kids a bath that night. after bath we noticed that both of Milo's eyeballs were red. just irritated looking again. but we chalked it up to soap maybe got in his eyes when we were washing his fo-hawk.
So Wednesday we send 50/50 bottles again. Milo didn't eat a lot. He ate a little bit and they had to trash about 2oz. They tried a second bottle and he ate even less. Strange! I even emailed my friend Karla that Milo was on an eating strike.

So Thursday we brought in all formula bottles. DC called around 11:45am.
"It looks like the rash is back. What did put in the bottles?"
"Well, I don't make the bottles, Mat does. I think it is formula. Let me call Mat and he will go home and get some breastmilk for you."
"Well, it looks like the rash looked pretty bad. And he is swelling up."
"Let me call Mat and see if he can get over there."
"Okay"
I called Mat told him to get over to DC ASAP.
Just then DC called back and said he just threw up his bottle and they are concerned enough to call 911. I told them to call 911 right away and that we were both on out way over.
rule #1 of daycare: find a daycare that you trust
rule #2 of daycare: find a daycare that is close to your work

I run out to my car and it wont unlock. key fob isn't working. I think, oh my key fob battery must be out. I unlock the car manually. Get in and try to turn it on...nothing. Wouldn't turn on. I almost lost it. I called Mat and sprint to meet him at a nearby corner (good
thing I have been working out!). DC calls me while we were driving, just blocks away, and want to take him immediately to the ER. I tell them to go go go. We get there before the ambulance has gone and I jumped in back.

I seriously think I gasped when I saw him. I will never forget the way he looked. Milo was nearly unrecognizable. Lips were like 4 times the size. Ears huge and bright red. His skin was crimson. He had all these wires hooked up to him. He was screaming. I again, almost lost it. I get on the gurney and hug him, tell him everything is going to be okay. Comfort him while we take off for the hospital. They are most worried about his breathing and are really checking him out while we are driving. I am thinking to myself, I will really lose my marbles if they have to do CPR on my son. They shoot him with bendryl.

Mat followed behind and Milo and I take a bumpy ride to Grady.
Grady. People seriously gasp when you say Grady. Not because it is a bad hospital but it is known for gun shot victims and things of that nature. But it's the closest hospotal to our home and our daycare. And don't worry, they have a brand new kids wing that just opened 6 months ago. It's super nice.

We get there, hop out and go to a room.   Mat is waiting for us. They hook him up.  Steroid. Epinephrine (sp?).  Some other allergy drug.  Less than 5 mins after the epi, his ear start turning white.  It's working.  Less and less red as time goes on.  Milo falls asleep in my arms.  This all happened around noon.  His lips didn't go back to normal till around 4pm.

Mat, myself and the doctors went over his history and my history over and over and over again.  We can't think it is anything other than the formula we started 10 days ago.  Possibly a cow milk protein allergy.  I guess his body didn't like it and just built up some anti-bodies to fight it.  And Wednesday he just couldn't fight it any longer.  What now?  BM and I go back to pumping 1 or 2 times a day.  Or try a hypoallergenic based formula and hope that it works.  Either Enfamil Nutramigen or Similac Alimentum.

It will take a can per week if I keep nursing him while at home and on the weekends. If I go all formula, it's going to be pricey.  Mat and I are going to make that call and figure out what we need to do.  They don't want him at daycare till after Christmas.  The drugs he is going to be on, make his immune system weak.  So we are going to figure that out too.

So we stayed in the hospital with him last night.  The doctors watched him overnight to make sure the allergy didn't come back.  They sent us home with an epi pen and directions on how to use it.  YIKES!

I keep eating/drinking the same as usual.  YAY cause I love milk!! You might know know this about me but I might be part cow.

So that's it.  Oh! And the Turner Security gladly jumped my car this morning. I could have possibly left my interior lights on.

I coincidentally I took Friday off so Milo and I are chillin at home.

We go back for testing in about a month. Email me directly if you have any other questions. It's been a long 2 days!

**Pictures**
You can see the swelling of his lips in that picture where he is sleeping in my arms. That is about a quarter of the size of his normal lips.
The last picture was taken right after we got home. I promise he is smiling again...just not in that picture. But you gotta love the double chin!

Other Santa pictures

Vince and Ellis Damico were there to meet Santa on the same day. Millie and Vince only caused a bit of havoc in the store. For the most part, they were very patient waiting their turn. To see the extra pictures of Millie & Milo & Vince, click here.































































Since I didn't get any pictures of Ellis in her beautiful dress, here she is with Santa.












And here is the amazing photo that Alice captured for the Damico Christmas card.

Santa Pictures

We made our annual trip to see Santa at B Braithwaite. This is the 3rd year we have visited the man in red. To see the pictures, click here. I can't take credit for these amazing pictures. I give credit to a friend of mine, Alice Park. This is such a nice, enjoyable way to meet Santa. It is actually a quite lengthy process to see him at one of the malls. Websites crash, mothers go ballistic trying to get appointments, family barter & trade for an appointment slot, and the pictures frankly stink. You know I love photos and Alice does a great job capturing the children. We look forward to it every year.

Millie enjoyed showing him her painted fingernails and telling him what she wanted for Christmas. This year was a great success compared to last year's utter fail. A retrospect of pictures to come!

A Little Housekeeping

Here is Millie and her Bailey. We are still not clear on what was going on but Bailey was losing feeling in her legs, arms and fingers. BUT Millie is very happy her buddy Bailey is back in the classroom and able to walk with a walker. According to the director and her teachers, the two are inseparable again. Bailey's walking is improving daily!

And this is Millie's "Holiday Board" describing how Millie spends the holidays.

Ice Skating Videos (2 videos)

Ice Skating

I am still chuckling just thinking about Millie on those ice skates! She was clearly the youngest on the ice. The skates were huge (size 8 and she is a size 6 at best). I can only imagine what she was thinking when I stuck those things on her feet. I still can't stop laughing about it! We watched the other skaters for a long time and she seemed pretty stoked about it. We got the skates on and I kept explaining how she wasn't going to be able to walk like normal.



We got up and on the ice and it took her awhile to stop slipping around. I was laughing so hard, I seriously thought I was going to pee my pants! She was sliding all around and I was holding her arms, trying not to fall myself. She kept yelling "It's slippery!!" Anyway, she get her footing and we set off for a loop around.

Thank goodness Jess knew how to skate because she was a great help. Millie would get tired and I would sit her on the edge. After a quick break she said she wanted to do it again. She wanted me to hold her for a small part of it which was very dangerous since I don't know how to skate. But she made it all the way around and by the end, she was done and she told me she wanted to go home. She did way better than I thought and hopefully next year she will be a little Dorthy Hamill.

Click here to see all the pictures.

Morning time (1 video)

School Photos Millie

And Millie's classroom. Click here to see the pictures.

School Photos Milo

On Friday the kids had a little ornament craft for the parents at school. I took this opportunity to introduce you to some of Milo's class. Here are just some of the kids in his class. There are actually several kids who I didn't get a chance to take pictures of.






































Claire is the girl in the first picture with her mom/dad.

Bradley is drinking from the sippy. He is one of the walkers in the class. Always trying to escape when someone comes in the door.


The next one is of Davis. He is a little older than Milo.

The next picture is of Milan. Another walker in the class.

Click here to see all the pictures.

Sittin up (2 videos)

Hanukkah 3

This picture of Millie has to be my best picture to date. Click here for the rest of the pictures.


If you fast forward through the pictures really fast, it almost looks like a movie! Enjoy!

Shake Shake Shake (1 video)

Hanukkah 2

I wanted to try something new with the kids this Hanukkah season. I wanted to take pictures using only the candlelight. Let me just tell you, it's not easy! I typically wouldn't share these since they aren't great but I wanted you all to see my improvement (isn't it always about me?!?! jk!).

Click here for pictures.

Millie really enjoyed picking out the candles each night. We were quite impressed with the colors and patterns she would use when picking the candles.

What's new with the kids?

I am a little behind on displaying these sheets from Millie's teachers. Here are two in a row. This is what Millie has been up to since mid-November.

Click here to see Nov 15 till Nov 22
Click here to see Nov 29 till Dec 6

Email me if you have any problems viewing these. In fact, email me if you ever have any problems viewing anything I post!

What is Milo up to?
He is rolling from back to front pretty well. But we haven't seen him roll the opposite.

Milo is holding his bottles.

Sitting up without assistance. He still needs to be watched because he can fall over hard like a tree.

He is blabbering and still drooling. We have no sign of any teeth just yet.

He is still such a happy happy baby. It is unbelievable how pleasant this little guy is.

He loves when friendly faces sing or dance. He starts to laugh which is hilarious. He does this sucking in noise when he laughs which is soooo funny. I have it on video so stay tuned.



He is technically sleeping through the night. Right now he is falling asleep right about 8pm along with his sister. He hasn't been waking up till around 6am and I nurse him at that time. Sometimes it's 4:30am (too early for Mommy). Sometimes 5am. Sometimes 6am. That is a long stretch so I don't feel comfortable dropping that feed just yet.

He is starting to get angry when Millie takes his toys away. But is quickly comforted by her doing some sort of dance in front of him. We are working on "sharing toys with your brother".

He is sleeping in his crib along side of his sister which is working out great.

He has had his first taste of formula the first week of December. He actually seems to be doing well. We started doing half/half in his bottles for daycare and he didn't seem to mind at all.

That's all I can think of right now but more to come!

Kazooo & Milo (2 videos)

Birthday GTG

Mat was very sweet to throw me a little birthday get-together. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Click here for the rest of the pictures. I didn't get many picture of the adults because the kids are just too cute!